The present invention concerns a method for the production and graphical personalization of an integrated circuit card, such as a bank card, a portable telephone card, a prepaid card, an identification card, etc.
A common method for producing integrated circuit cards consists of printing, if necessary, a decorative element on one surface of the card body, preferably coating the decorative element with a protective layer, implanting the integrated circuit into the card body, printing personalizing data such as a serial number and/or information related to the card holder, particularly in alphanumeric or bar code form, and writing the data corresponding to the personalizing data of the card body into a storage area of the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit is provided with conductive regions that extend into the decorative element or the protective layer in such a way that when the personalizing data is printed by heat transfer, the print head hits the conductive regions. Hence, the print head, as well as the conductive regions, risk being damaged. To eliminate this drawback, it has been attempted to completely bury the conductive regions into the card body or to provide a floating mount for the head for printing the graphical personalizing data, but the solutions considered have not proven satisfactory.
The production method is thus fast and simple to implement.
An additional drawback of the known production method resides in the fact that the personalizing data printed on the protective layer of the decorative element is exposed to external stresses such that it risks being erased, for example accidentally as a result of repeated rubbing, or intentionally by means of a solvent for purposes of an unauthorized modification of the data. In order to improve the durability of this data, it has been considered to inscribe the personalizing data by laser etching the surface of the card body or by plastically deforming the card body in order to form an embossed inscription. Inscriptions produced this way cannot be erased. However, these inscription methods require lengthy operations and expensive equipment, which increases the cost price of cards personalized in this way.
Furthermore, with the known method, in order for the data printed on the card body to be certain to correspond to the data written in the storage area, the writing of the personalizing data into the storage area and the printing of the corresponding personalizing data are done card by card, and synchronously. The method is therefore not very flexible. Moreover, the electrical personalization step, i.e., the writing of the personalizing data into the storage area, is generally a faster operation than the graphical personalization step, i.e., the printing of the personalizing data. The result is that the machine performing the electrical personalization operates at less than full capacity in order to avoid an overrun of the graphical personalization machine.
According to one aspect of the invention, a method for producing a card comprises, in order, the following steps. Personalizing data is printed onto one surface of the card body, and an integrated circuit is implanted into the card body. The data corresponding to the personalizing data of the card body is written into a storage area of the integrated circuit.
The printing of the personalizing data thus being done prior to the installation of the integrated circuit, the print head does not risk being damaged, and it is not necessary to provide a special mount for the print head.
Advantageously, a decorative element is printed simultaneously with the personalizing data.
The production method is thus fast and simple to implement.
The method preferably comprises, subsequent to the step for printing the decorative element and the personalizing data, a step for coating the surface of the card body with a protective layer.
The protective layer thus provides protection of the personalizing data, and if necessary of the decorative element, both during the production of the card and during its subsequent utilization. The personalizing data cannot be accidentally erased, and any attempt to modify the personalizing data requires the removal of the protective layer, which makes it very difficult to modify the card without destroying it.
According to another aspect of the invention, the method comprises, prior to the step for writing into a storage area, the step for recognizing the personalizing data on the card body.
Thus, as a result of the preliminary recognition of the data on the card body, the electrical personalization step can be performed any time after the graphical personalization step. The method is therefore particularly flexible. Moreover, it is possible to perform the printing of the personalizing data onto batches of cards, for example on plates containing several cards, then to individually perform the writing of the data corresponding to the previously recognized personalizing data into the storage area of the integrated circuit. The production process is thus rationalized, making it possible to take full advantage of the capabilities of the machines used to implement it. The invention also makes it possible to perform the graphical personalization and the electrical personalization at different locations.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge through the reading of the following description of a particular non-limiting embodiment of the invention.